This seems unlikely.
Not that the resort owners wouldn't love to find a way to cash in that land for real estate, but there were already houses all along the left side of the hole overlooking the ocean . . . putting a new home site where the green is would make them VERY unhappy. And you've got to get from 16 to 18 somehow, so you can't block the path with real estate.
If the report is true, it would be a giant blot on the course, but it will take a couple more sources for me to believe it. There are all kinds of crazy rumors in the golf business, and a lot of them are just pure b.s.
Wow. Congrats on being a news breaker, Emile.
I guess we can cross Cabo del Sol off the list of places to go.
Curious: I don't follow the rankings that closely anymore; had their course been pushed out of the World Top 100 lists recently? If so, I'd guess it was easier for the owners to say, screw it, we are taking the money. If not . . . I guess that's still their POV.
Tough to watch but as Glen Frey once sang... the lure of easy money has a very strong appeal.
Tough to watch but as Glen Frey once sang... the lure of easy money has a very strong appeal.
You should have used an alias.
(In case somebody squeals.)
Sorry to hear about the master plan. That’s the first time I can think of where somebody just took down a top 100 course, to sell the real estate.
The elimination of 17 a couple of months ago is but one of many changes happening to The Ocean Course. Eventually 8 holes will be eliminated or altered as development plans are implemented.
Tough to watch but as Glen Frey once sang... the lure of easy money has a very strong appeal.
Most of us on here get WAY more wrapped up in the quality to the course design than the masses. Just give them solid golf in great condition and all the other amenities and they are over the moon.
Most of us on here get WAY more wrapped up in the quality to the course design than the masses. Just give them solid golf in great condition and all the other amenities and they are over the moon.
Maybe, but it seems to me your owners are putting at risk the very thing that made golfers want to go to Cabo in the first place (desert meets ocean!).
Maybe it’s such an established destination now that it doesn’t need that, but maybe people will stop bringing their clubs.
Sorry to hear about the master plan. That’s the first time I can think of where somebody just took down a top 100 course, to sell the real estate.
Sorry to hear about the master plan. That’s the first time I can think of where somebody just took down a top 100 course, to sell the real estate.
Tom would Lido not be a good comparison? Didn't the hotel become the priority and when money got tight they sold off the holes along the ocean?
Not sure how this example prompted the Mexico comment. Heck, there are thousands of homes in the US built around courses that NLE mas have been transitioned to parks and such.
The changes to the golf have been relatively well received considering the overall plans for the project. Most of us on here get WAY more wrapped up in the quality to the course design than the masses. Just give them solid golf in great condition and all the other amenities and they are over the moon.
This whole thing is unbelievable to me.
......What's next, the 7th??
Just sad....
YP
What was done at El Dorado?
What was done at El Dorado?
El Dorado used to have the 9th and 18th right along the beach, and the 8th & 17th looking right over them, greens perched near the rocks.
I happened to be at Sebonack with Jack Nicklaus and Jim Lipe the day they got the news that Discovery Land had bought the course and wanted to change those holes so they could turn them into real estate, and they hoped that Jack would be willing to make the changes, but if not they had another designer who could.
The number I heard then was a quick $40 million in real estate. I assume they replaced the holes for a lot less than that. The road crossings on the course made the original routing slightly awkward, but not nearly as awkward as what they have now.
What was done at El Dorado?
El Dorado used to have the 9th and 18th right along the beach, and the 8th & 17th looking right over them, greens perched near the rocks.
I happened to be at Sebonack with Jack Nicklaus and Jim Lipe the day they got the news that Discovery Land had bought the course and wanted to change those holes so they could turn them into real estate, and they hoped that Jack would be willing to make the changes, but if not they had another designer who could.
The number I heard then was a quick $40 million in real estate. I assume they replaced the holes for a lot less than that. The road crossings on the course made the original routing slightly awkward, but not nearly as awkward as what they have now.
I was fortunate to meet you Greg for the Tequila Cup, and I'm glad you moved on when the time was right! I hope to return sometime soon, with a certain Irishman or not...I will surely let you know.
I feel fortunate as well to have played the Ocean Course at its peak, and I'm disappointed to see a couple of the high points go by the wayside. It's sad when this happens in our odd little world, but I guess it's a reminder that there are bigger issues at some of these resorts than preserving great golf holes....straight cash homies is right.
As we pile on about CDS, I don't think the loss of 3 or 4 ocean holes poisons Cabo as a golf destination. With Diamante (x2), Chileno Bay, Querencia (maybe x2 someday), Quivira, and now Twin Dolphins...that's a pretty darn good lineup (connections aside) without including two decent "now without ocean!" CDS courses.
Diamante-Love/Cowley has undergone some changes too since the 18 I played, and they look for the better. The original #10 was an awkward uphill 480y par 4.95 and looks to now be split into a par three and par four. Trading the two pond-infused holes for two dune holes looks great from the aerial, and #18 was a bit of an odd finisher, now gone in favor of the neat former 17th as the home hole. I haven't played the new version, but perhaps an upgrade from a 7-7.5 to an 8?
So... where are all these extra holes going, then? And/or will the new par three be permanent or is that just there to make it an 18-holer until further changes are implemented?
Obviously, they're within their rights to change the course, but I do think it's quite dishonest to continue selling tee times at the normal rate with no mention of the recent or upcoming changes unless you flip through the hole-by-hole descriptions (hell, they're still advertising seven holes on the ocean). Usually changes of this magnitude (especially to famous holes) seem to draw some attention. The lack of news here seems a touch deceitful.
While Diamante's being mentioned, has the hotel building nearby impacted the experience at the Dunes? Haven't seen pictures but I imagine I wouldn't like a course more if the ocean and beach views were blocked by a Hard Rock tower.
Isn't something similar happening at Nirwana Bali? A top 100 course (at least on some lists) is being torn up and redone. This time it is so that the resort can be even posher. Apparently the developer of this resort is some guy named Trump.
So they made the course significantly worse and then made it private?